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Best-selling Field Guides
Kaufman Field Guide to
Butterflies of North America
by Jim P. Brock & Kenn Kaufman
The National Audubon
Society Field Guide to
North American Butterflies
by Robert Michael Pyle
A Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies
by Paul A. Opler, Roger Tory Petersen & Vichai Malikul
Caterpillars in the Field and Garden:
A Field Guide to the Butterfly
Caterpillars of North America
by Thomas J. Allen, James P. Brock & Jeffery Glassberg
Butterflies through Binoculars:
A Field Guide to the
Butterflies of Florida
by Jeffrey Glassberg
Copyright
Copyright © 2009-2018 by Suzanne Tilton for all content, except as noted. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
You may share Butterfly Lady’s articles and photos, for non-commercial purposes, if you attribute Suzanne Tilton as the author/photographer and create an active link back to Butterfly-Lady.com.
All other uses, including utilization of materials created by others, are prohibited without written permission from the respective copyright holder.
Favorite Children’s Books
How to Raise Monarch Butterflies:
A Step-by-Step Guide for Kids
by Carol Pasternak
Waiting for Wings
by Lois Ehlert
Ten Little Caterpillars
by Bill Martin, Jr. & Lois Ehlert
Gotta Go! Gotta Go!
by Sam Swope & Sue Riddle
My, Oh My–a Butterfly!
All About Butterflies
by Tish Rabe, Aristides Ruiz & Joe Mathieu
Affiliate Links
Butterfly Lady showcases products with affiliate links. When you purchase, we receive a small commission to fund butterfly education. Thank you for your support!
Monthly Archives: May 2016
Change Is a Beautiful Thing
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Posted in Butterfly Inspirations
Tagged beauty, change, God, Limenitis archippus, reminder, Viceroy
Meadow Argus Butterfly of Tonga
The Meadow Argus (Junonia villida) is a butterfly found in the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. I reared this one from the caterpillar stage. The butterfly is resting on my arm after being released. A few moments later, it flew up and away.

Meadow Argus (Junonia villida) butterfly.
If it looks familiar to residents of North America, there’s good reason. It’s related to the Buckeye (Junonia coenia). One of the host plants for Meadow Argus is Porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis), a wonderful nectar plant that grows along roadsides and in empty fields on the island of Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga.
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Posted in Butterflies
Tagged Buckeye, host plants, Junonia coenia, Junonia villida, Kingdom of Tonga, Meadow Argus, nectar plants, North America, Porterweed, South Pacific, Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, Tonga, Tongatapu
Miracles Happen Everyday
Be inspired today by the beauty of an Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) that I reared and released.
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Posted in Butterfly Inspirations
Tagged butterfly release, Eastern Black Swallowtail, miracles, Papilio polyxenes, reminder
Raising Black Swallowtail Butterflies for Fun
One of my favorite butterflies to raise is the Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). It’s an easy species to attract to your garden. You just need to provide their host plants on which the females lay their eggs, including Dill, Fennel, Parsley, Rue or Golden Alexander and they will find them.

The beautiful Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) butterfly and five of its host plants, including common herbs: Dill, Fennel and Parsley.
Can’t find these host-plant seeds locally? Order them here:
• Dill (Anethum graveolens)
• Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
• Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)
• Curly Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
• Rue (Ruta graveolens)

Female Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly ovipositing an egg on Fennel. Look closely at the end of her abdomen. Can you see the cream-colored egg?

Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly eggs on Rue and Fennel leaves. Collecting eggs and larvae from your garden or field and getting them home safely is easier with small condiment cups and lids. Click here to order a package.
Once you find the eggs or tiny caterpillars, remove the leaves or pieces of the plant they are on and place them inside a small plastic cup with a lid. This keeps the tiny caterpillars from escaping.) Do not punch holes.

You can purchase 2-ounce or 5-ounce cups at most grocery stores or click on the link to order them online:https://amzn.to/2NSwq1E
Keep them inside the cup until after they hatch and for a few days. Then you can place them inside a larger container. I like to use salad containers from fast-food restaurants, but you can use any container with a lid. I use a push pin to punch air holes in the lid. Line the bottom of the container with a paper towel or coffee filter. Be sure to provide plenty of the host plant leaves on which you found the eggs and/or caterpillars.

This easy-to-assemble habitat is nothing more than a fast-food salad container lined with a coffee filter. A few holes punched in the top with a push pin complete the project. These Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars are dining on Curly Parsley.

I call this my caterpillar condo.
Check on your caterpillars each day to make sure they have enough food to feast on. Once they get bigger you will need to empty the fecal droppings (known as frass) each day and add a new coffee filter or paper towel plus fresh food.

Caterpillars make a mess! Be sure to clean your cage every day to keep your caterpillars healthy and happy.

Caterpillars shed their skin five times as they grow. These stages are called instars. In this photo, you can see all five instars of the Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar represented on my finger.
When they are ready to pupate, they will crawl to the top of the lid and make their chrysalis. Many people like to put sticks inside the container for them to use, but that is not necessary. However, it can be fun to see the different colors the chrysalis becomes.

The caterpillar will crawl to the top and spin a silk girdle on the container lid before it sheds its skin for the final time.

Chameleon-like, the Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar will pupate with colors that match its surroundings in order to camouflage itself.
It usually takes about two weeks for the butterfly to emerge from the chrysalis. You can then experience the joy of holding and releasing your new butterfly.

A newly-emerged Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly ready for its first flight.
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Posted in Butterflies
Tagged abdomen, Anethum graveolens, breathing holes, butterfly release, camouflage, caterpillar, caterpillar condo, chameleon-like, chrysalis, clean cages, coffee filter, collecting eggs, collecting larvae, common herbs, condiment cups with lids, Curly Parsley, Dill, Eastern Black Swallowtail, egg, eggs, emerge, fecal droppings, Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, frass, Golden Alexander, habitat, host plants, instar, joy, larvae, lay eggs, ovipositing, paper towel, Papilio polyxenes, Parsley, Petroselinum crispum, pupate, push pin, Rue, Ruta graveolens, salad container, seeds, shed skin, silk girdle, Zizia aurea
Butterflies and Fruit
Adding a fruit feeder to your butterfly garden can help attract butterflies. Many butterflies do not live on flower nectar alone. Some species prefer, even require, overripe fruit to feed on. Butterflies are particularly fond of sliced, rotting oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, apples and bananas.

A couple of Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies enjoy sips of sweet fruit juice on a summer afternoon. • Click here or on photo to view a variety of suet baskets.
By placing sliced oranges and watermelon inside a suet bird feeder you can make this simple butterfly feeder.

A Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) butterfly sipping juice from a cantaloupe.
This easily-assembled butterfly feeder is a clay saucer with sliced cantaloupe that was positioned on top of a hanging plant basket. It was hung in a Plum Tree (Prunus spp.), which happens to be a host plant for the Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) seen feeding here.

A mass of Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis) butterflies marauding a rotting banana still in its peel. • Copyright by Jill Streit-Murphy. Used with permission.
My friend, Jill Streit-Murphy, hangs out a rotten banana in her garden. There are so many butterflies you can’t even see the fruit!

Half an orange on a deck railing attracted this Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) butterfly.
While in Costa Rica last summer, I set out some fruit in a bird bath and attracted amazingly beautiful butterflies.

A Red-spotted Purple butterfly shares discarded peaches with some wasps.

An ant guard is essential equipment when using a butterfly feeder. Click here or on photo to view a variety of ant guards.
Keep ants at bay by hanging your butterfly feeder with an ant guard. Whether you use the kind shown here with a small bit of pesticide tucked inside where it doesn’t come in contact with the butterflies or the type that you keep filled with water and a few drops of cooking oil, ant guards are essential equipment when using butterfly feeders.

Spread the message with this “Plant Milkweed T-shirt by Butterfly Lady: https://amzn.to/2PFvZn4
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Posted in Butterflies
Tagged ant guard, apples, Asterocampa celtis, bananas, bird bath, butterfly feeder, cantaloupe, Costa Rica, flower nectar, fruit feeder, grapefruit, Hackberry Emperor, host plant, Jill Streit-Murphy, Limenitis archippus, Limenitis arthemis, nectarines, oranges, Painted Lady, peaches, Plum Tree, Prunus spp., Red-spotted Purple, rotten fruit, strawberries, suet basket, suet bird feeder, Vanessa cardui, Viceroy, wasp, watermelon